Like a bolt from the blue

Flashback to the 1980s, when this consultant pilot fish's client has a mysterious problem with its mainframe terminals: They keep dying, and no one knows why.

"The client, a savings and loan, had a history in which the terminals would stop working, and I would replace the logic board and repair the RS-232 serial port integrated circuits on the logic board," says fish.

"One day, driving back from a service call at another client's office, I passed the S&L and saw a flash as lightning struck the canopy in front of the building.

"Sure enough, by the time I got back to the office, there was a trouble call for the terminals not working. This time, I knew what was causing the issue.

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